Faribault County commissioners listen to County Assessor, Brady Rauenhorst during their meeting on Jan. 20.

The matter of whether to have the county recorder’s position be an elected or an appointed position will be decided by the voters of Faribault County following action taken by the County Board at their regular meeting on Tuesday, Jan. 20.

A resolution calling for a special election on the matter was brought before the board.

“This brings the matter to the voters,” board member Bill Groskreutz said. “Let them decide.”

“I totally agree that it is a rational thing to do,” fellow board member Tom Loveall commented. “My question is, why didn’t we do that with the auditor’s position?”

It was pointed out that the county has an appointed auditor who is doing a good job.

“If it were an open position, then I would be more open to voting on it,” Groskreutz responded.

A resolution to make the recorder’s position an appointed one failed to receive the necessary super-majority of four affirmative votes when the commissioners voted on the matter during their Oct. 7 meeting of last year. Commissioners Bruce Anderson, Greg Young and Groskreutz voted for the resolution last October while Loveall and commissioner Gertrude Paschke voted against the measure.

The resolution to schedule a special election for April 14 for the public to vote on the matter passed on a 3-2 vote with Anderson, Young and Groskreutz voting in favor and Loveall and Paschke voting against.

With the passage of the resolution, the special election will ask the following question – Shall the office of Faribault County Recorder be appointed rather than elected at the expiration of the current term?

Another matter drawing the interest of the public is the rifle versus shotgun debate for deer hunting in Faribault County.

The County Board decided to schedule a work session to discuss the matter for Wednesday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. It will be held at the Ag Center in Blue Earth.

The Wells Rifle and Pistol Club is also sponsoring a forum on the subject. It is scheduled to be held on Feb. 18, at 7 p.m., at the Wells Community Center.

Beginning with the 2026 deer hunting season, the state of Minnesota will allow rifles statewide for hunting. However, counties have the right to pass ordinances to keep their individual county as a shotgun-only county.

Public Works director/county engineer April Wellman presented the board with two different maps, a 2026 Faribault County project map and a five-year (2026-2030) construction plan map.

“The bids for County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 19 and CSAH 23 will be opened on Jan. 29,” Wellman said. “They will be awarded Feb. 3.”

Wellman shared that the bids for the five bridge projects will not be opened until Feb. 25 and awarded on March 3.

License bureau director Amy Salinas attended the meeting to inform the commissioners that local offices are now receiving reimbursement dollars from DVS (Drivers Vehicles and Services) for “no-fee” transactions conducted by the deputy registrars.

“Our reimbursement for Aug. 1 through Sept. 30 of last year is $979,” Salinas said. “The reimbursement for October through December is $1,250.”

The board was also introduced to the new Sentence to Serve (STS) supervisor, Eli Redenious.

While making the introduction, former STS supervisor Jason Casias reported that Redenious has been very busy.

“They helped out with some demolition work at the Wells Depot Museum,” Casias commented. “STS is here to be an asset for everyone but especially for those groups that aren’t able to do the work themselves.”

Redenious told the board the crews have also been busy cleaning up recycle sites and ditches where people have been leaving their junk.

In other business, the board:

• Approved a flat fee agreement with Squires, Waldspurger and Mace, P.A. for professional legal services relating to land use and zoning issues. The fee is $3,600 annually.

• Approved an increase in the Assessor’s office appraisal fees from $12 to $13 per parcel effective with the May 2026 billing.

• Set the County Board of Appeal and Equalization meeting for June 16, beginning at 6:30 p.m. and continuing until at least 7 p.m.

• Approved the list of licensed 2026 solid waste/recycling haulers for Faribault County.

• Approved the purchase of nine Poll Pads to aid in the electronic voter check-in and verification process for election authorities. Two will be used in the courthouse, three will be used by the city of Blue Earth, two by the city of Wells and two by the city of Winnebago. The estimated cost is $4,028 with some of the expense possibly being offset by grants.

• Approved the appointment of John Roper to the Human Services Board.

• Approved the appointments of Dwight Olson and Don Brown to the Planning and Zoning Board.

• Voted to approve the training request of Britney Gehrking of the Sheriff’s Office to attend the United States Police Canine Association Narcotics Trial for narcotics detection recertification.

• Approved the requests of Merissa Lore and Luke Schonborn of the Drainage Department to attend a drainage conference.